The Art of the Nonresponse Response

© William Klein

Today the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting (MOFTB) issued a statement in an attempt to clarify their proposed new rules governing street photography and filming in New York City. The MOFTBs nonresponse response was no doubt prompted by the flurry of negative blog activity after a New York Times story brought to light the new requirements under consideration.

The MOFTB release merely restates the proposed new rules and attempts to reassure us that the occurrence of two people taking pictures in a single location for more than 30 minutes is "RARE for recreational photographers." (Clearly these folks have never spent any time at Rockefeller Center, Grand Central or the Statue of Liberty.) Beyond not addressing the general absurdity of the proposed new rules, the MOFTB also fails to address any of the concerns regarding selective or discriminatory enforcement.

They do mention that they anticipate "publishing the final rules at the end of July 2007," so there is still time to kill this silliness before it becomes the real deal. Keep up the pressure on Commissioner Katherine Oliver or as Mr. Colberg suggests, take it straight to the mayor.

UPDATE: On Christian Patterson's Speak, See, Remember blog, Adam Bell has provided some insider info for reaching out to reps on this issue:

I just talked to a friend from the Mayors office, here is what she said regarding a letter to Katherine Oliver:

“Unfortunately, the Commissioner probably supports the proposal, so your letter may fall on deaf ears. You could also try your local council member, but your best bet is probably the Cultural Affairs Committee. The Chair is Recchia, and other members are Comrie, Dickens, Garodnick, Gentile, Gioia, Vacca, Weprin, White … all council members email addresses are lastname@council.nyc.ny.us”

So people can also try various member of the cultural affairs committee:

recchia@council.nyc.ny.us, comrie@council.nyc.ny.us, gioia@council.nyc.ny.us, vacca@council.nyc.ny.us, weprin@council.nyc.ny.us, white@council.nyc.ny.us

Here is their webpage: